Meet the World’s new strongest beer- a beer called Armageddon. With 65% alcohol, this drink is 130 proof. The beer is the creation of the Scottish brewery Brewmeister.

A spokesman said: “Despite being 65%, the beer has a lot of flavour – malty, hoppy, slightly sweet and lots of yeast still in the beer… …Be careful though, smelling it is probably enough to put you over the limit!”

That 65 percent alcohol by volume trumps the previous champion, a beer made by BrewDog, which was at 55 percent. They were able to achieve such a high percentage by freezing the beer, removing some of the ice that forms, while leaving much of the unfrozen alcohol (because water and alcohol freeze at vastly different temperatures).

I travel the world educating drinkers aboutScotch for a living. Most recently, I was in Taiwan for the annual Whisky Live show in Taipei. Over the course of two days, I conducted 10 masterclasses, during which a number of misconceptions surfaced. I thought I would debunk them in print, since plenty of you no doubt have similar questions.

PALE WHISKIES ARE NOT AS GOOD AS DARK WHISKIES.

This is a common mistake, especially in Asia, but color is an unreliable indicator of quality. In fact, many brands use flavorless spirit caramel to darken their products and maintain color consistency from batch to batch. But a pale spirit can be robust—like Cutty Sark, which was created specifically for the United States during Prohibition by London wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd.

WHISKY SHOULD BE DRUNK STRAIGHT.

No, whisky should be enjoyed just as you like it: straight, on the rocks, with soda (currently very popular in Japan), green tea (the Chinese love this) or coconut water (the craze in Brazil). But for full “appreciation,” particularly of single malt, skip the ice and try a little water, which opens up the aroma and makes it easier to evaluate the taste.

HIGH-STRENGTH WHISKIES AREN’T WORTH IT.

Over the last few years, most distillers have introduced potent cask-strength bottlings. But these whiskies are not just gimmicks. Usually, the higher the proof of the alcohol, the more congeners it retains, which means bigger flavor. If you add a dash of water to a dram, these elements become volatile, enhancing the aroma.

PRICE = QUALITY.

Not necessarily. Quality is a matter of personal taste and is influenced by who you’re drinking with and where. But there is no guarantee you’ll like an expensive whisky more than you will an inexpensive one. The price reflects rarity, how long the distillery has had to hold on to the whisky and the cost of the packaging.

AGE = QUALITY.

This is perhaps the most debated topic. Older whiskies are usually, but not always, better. And there is a limit to how long a spirit can age. Too long and the original spirit character is dominated by flavors coming from the wood. But for many consumers, the age is really a justification for the price they paid.

For a National Waffle Day (August 24, 2012) promotion, Holiday Inn Express of Stony Brook in New York served up free alcohol-flavored waffles at its breakfast buffet. As part of the same promotion, the Georgi vodka brand introduced their waffle-flavored vodka. According to Denean Lane, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express Stony Brook, “We are pleased to serve waffles alongside waffle-flavored vodka as long as the patron is over 21 and it is consumed in the bar/lounge area of a hotel.” Martin Silver, President of Star Industries, which owns Georgi vodka, is quoted as saying “Georgi is four times distilled and made in the United States of America and it tastes just like waffles. What better place to kick off our product than a place like Holiday Inn Express where travelers coming from all over our great country can try it?”.

In addition to making a fun addition to breakfast, Georgi has concocted a number of waffle-inspired cocktails including the signature waffle-tini – the drink over ice, served with a mini waffle garnish on the rim of the glass.

Millions of Americans eat waffles for breakfast every day. Waffles have existed since the times of the ancient Greeks. The Pilgrims first brought waffles to America in the 1600s. Thomas Jefferson introduced the first waffle iron on American soil. Eggo Waffles were first sold in supermarkets starting in the 1950′s. Belgian Waffles become a global sensation when they were introduced at the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York City.

For those who like getting drunk but dislike the taste of alcohol, Mckenzie River Corporation has created a drink for you.

Called ‘Air’ (Alcohol Inspired Refresher), the carbonated alcoholic drink is virtually tasteless, colorless, odourless—like alcohol that tastes like water—so no one will know you’re getting drunk on it.

The malt-based mixture contains 4% alcohol, and also comes in berry and citrus flavors.

Air will soon be available at grocery stores in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle at 4 can for US$6.99, and US$1.74 each.

Seattle-based online wine course companyWine Folly has created a flowchart on how to choose wine.

The guide ‘How To Choose A Bottle of Wine’ starts off by having you decide who will be drinking the wine—and after a series of questions, the flowchart suggests the perfect wine for the occasion, whether it is to have alone at home or on a camping trip.

According to the company, there are also a few moments when wine is just not appropriate.

“In exchange for his granddaughter’s hand in marriage, a curious young bloke presented his new grandfather-in-law, Judge, with a bottle of gin. The gin was triple distilled with a curious blend of spices. The Judge was tickled by the gin and insisted his grandson-in-law provide him with a regular allocation of the toothsome spirit. With that encouraging nod, Bristow Gin was born and went on to live most happily ever after.

Carefully made in small batches with eleven botanicals to give the Judge’s gin a clearly unique and satisfying character.”

Using Tyvek, the same engineered plastic fabric that’s used to wrap and seal homes while they’re being constructed, this faux paper bag not only camouflages a controlled substance when consumed in public, it also helps keep it refreshingly cold.

The old paper bag trick is usually associated with so-called hobos as they try to keep their hooch secret from John Law. But with this Tyvek beverage cooler that looks like a crumpled up brown paper bag, anyone can pretend to be a substance-abusing down-on-their-luck individual. As long as they still have about $9 to their name, plus shipping and handling.

Look, drinking all day is not healthy. But what if you and the missus signed up for a nine-hour Napa County wine tour, and you want to get your money’s worth? Or maybe you’re hitting your bachelor pal’s BBQ, and the action starts at noon. Or, maybe, what the hell, you just want to go all out on a hot summer day. This afternoon bender is probably not a good idea. But here are some tips to make sure you stay awake—and, you know, survive.

It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week, and it’s time for Happy Hour, Gizmodo’s weekly booze column. A cocktail shaker full of innovation, science, and alcohol. It’s a scientific rager!

After alcohol is swallowed, it is absorbed primarily from the small intestine into the veins that collect blood from the stomach and bowels and from the portal vein, which leads to the liver. From there it is carried to the liver, where it is exposed to enzymes and metabolized… BAC [Blood-Alcohol Content] is influenced by environmental factors (such as the rate of alcohol drinking, the presence of food in the stomach, and the type of alcoholic beverage) and genetic factors (variations in the principal alcohol-metabolizing enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase [ADH] and aldehyde dehydrogenase [ALDH2]).

Got it? Good.

Pace Yourself

Drinking all day is an endurance event. You are literally slowly poisoning yourself all day and seeing how long you can take it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Listening to your body is the number one most important thing. If it tells you, “I’ve had enough,” well, you had a good run, but you need to stop, because you could do some serious damage. However, your body may send the message, “Just gimme another 15 minutes. I’m still working on that last one,” in which case, game on. Respect those messages, though, and do your best to listen for them.

Maximum Volume, Minimum Impact

ABV (alcohol by volume) is critical here. The lower the better. Continuing the metaphor from the last section, this is a marathon. Sipping beer (typically 6 percent ABV) is a slow, steady jog that will get you to the finish line. Taking a shot of whiskey (typically 40 percent ABV) is like doing a 100-yard dash as fast as you can in the middle of it. You’re going to blow yourself out too quickly, and very well might not finish unless you slow way down immediately afterward.

Eat

This is absolutely essential. Drinking on an empty stomach is a recipe for disaster. Blackouts, blood-poisoning, all kinds of bad shit. It’s a rookie mistake—don’t ever do it. You need to eat at every stage of this, and we’re not talking about potato chips—real meals. Start with a big, hearty breakfast. As mentioned, alcohol is primarily absorbed in the small intestine. You know what else is? Complex carbohydrates. Fuel up with a breakfast of whole-wheat pancakes, or oatmeal, but don’t stop there. Because BAC is affected by gastric emptying rates, put something more substantial in there, like ham and eggs. Proteins and fats take longer to digest, so they’ll stay with you longer and continue to work their anti-spins magic. Cheeseburgers are a superfood in this sport. You’ve got to keep eating throughout the day. Not only will keeping plenty of food in your stomach slow the rate of alcohol absorption, but it will make you feel full, which will encourage you to drink slower. The same rule applies for the end of the night, and the next morning as you’re trying to shake off the cobwebs. Try to avoid super salty snacks, though, because that may dehydrate you. Speaking of…

Rehydrate

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it makes you pee more, which can lead to dehydration (one of the major causes of getting sick from drinking, and also of hangovers). Water is your friend. Not soft drinks, not fizzy water, water. Aim to have once glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you consume. It’s hard to do it, and you will pee quite a lot, but try. Hydration is absolutely critical for maintaining proper brain function. The more you dry out, the more your head will hurt and the harder thinking straight will become, and that will lead you down a nasty path very quickly. Definitely drink as much water as you can before you go to sleep.

Sleep

Have you ever noticed that when you’re tired, one beer can hit you like it was three? There are a number of contributing factors here. Part of it is just that when you’re tired, thinking clearly is more difficult. Ever heard the phrase “sleep drunk”? The symptoms of exhaustion can manifest themselves in a manner similar to drunkenness. Adding alcohol to the equation only amplifies this effect. But there’s something else going on as well. According to the University of Rochester:

General fatigue or tiredness will lead to a higher BAC than normal as one’s liver is less efficient at processing and/or eliminating alcohol when one’s general energy level is low. Furthermore, as alcohol is a depressant, consuming alcohol when tired will, in general, simply increase one’s level of tiredness while magnifying alcohol’s traditional effects.

Extreme tiredness = pass out = you lose. If you know you’re in for a long day of drinking, get as much sleep as possible the night before.

Stay Cool

“Damn, it’s a hot summer day. I’m just going to sit outside and drink a ton of margaritas!” Bad call. Heat and alcohol are a very bad combination. The U.S. Army agrees, that alcohol “raises the body’s blood pressure, increasing the risk of a heat-related illness like hyperthermia (over heating) and heat stroke (especially for people with high blood pressure).” Plus, when it’s hot you sweat more and need more water to maintain equilibrium. Because alcohol is a diuretic and you’re already losing a lot of fluids, this is a bad combo. Heat can also exacerbate the symptoms of drunkenness. Hang out in the shade and stay as cool as possible.

Supplements

When you’re pissing like a goat every ten minutes, you aren’t just losing water, you’re losing some important nutrients. In order to avoid painful hangovers (which may start long before the day is over) it’s important to replenish these nutrients. B vitamins are one of the first things alcohol depletes you of. There are plenty of foods that are a good course of B vitamins, or you could pop a B-Complex.

You’re also going to needs some electrolytes. Sports drinks like Gatorade are electrolyte-balanced to help with rehydration, but they also have a lot of sugar. You know what’s better? Those little pouches of Emergen-C. They’re cheap, it’s easy to keep a few in your pocket, AND they have all the B vitamins you need. Epic win.

Some also recommend taking aspirin as you drink (do not exceed recommended doses). Aspirin has been show to interfere with the action of alcohol dehydrogenases, thus slowing down the rate of absorption. While it may keep you sober longer, there is potential for harmful interaction, so we cannot recommend this. Using Tylenol (acetaminophen) is a definite DON’T as you can really damage your liver.

Maybe people choose to caffeinate while drinking. It’s true that it will keep you more alert, but it will not keep you more sober. In fact, this goes against the “listen to your body rule,” because you are artificially tricking it into thinking it’s better off than it is. This can lead to too much drinking, too fast, and serious black-out experiences. Also, caffeine is a diuretic, like alcohol, so it will further dehydrate you. We’re not saying we never do this, we’re just saying that you should be careful when you do. Four Loko was banned for a reason.

Practice

This is a tough one to recommend, but it works. Seasoned, well-practiced drinkers can drink more (generally). Alcohol is a toxin, and our bodies adapt to metabolize and deal with it. That kind of adaptation takes time and repetition. The more tolerant we are to the toxin, the slower our bodies try to break it down, and thus the slower the rate at which it is absorbed into our bloodstreams. According to DUI Fighters “This rate varies considerably between individuals; experienced male drinkers with a high body mass may process up to 30 grams (38 mL) per hour, but a more typical figure is 10 grams (12.7 mL) per hour.”

So if you know that you’re going to a wild daytime party in two weeks, get your body used to the alcohol. Staying totally sober for two weeks to “get ready for the party” will be like going 0 to 60 way faster than your body can handle. Don’t binge, but do drink enough to build a tolerance to the chemicals. Afterward, detox

Above all, think

Again, exercise judgement here. We understand that sometimes you want to cut loose, but don’t hurt yourself or others. Have your fun, but stay safe, and make sure you’re alive in the morning

It’s Saturday night and your drunken conversation has turned to the subject of hangover cures. Unfortunately, this is also probably the time when you are least equipped to separate fact from fiction (and let’s face it, when it comes to talk of hangover prevention, the former is often in woefully short supply). Let the folks at AsapSCINECE walk you through some of the empirically tested facts of preventing and treating the morning after dizzy-sicks. They call it “The Scientific Hangover Cure.” [AsapSCIENCE]

Recent research out of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center sheds new light on the correlation between gastric bypass surgery and the increased risk of developing an alcohol addiction.

Previously, it had been suggested that increased alcohol consumption was compensatory for the inability to consume food as one had previously, at levels seeming of addiction. Simply swapping one addiction for another.

But Dr Mitchell Roslin, a bariatric surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, explains that this is not so. Gastric bypass surgery provokes significant weight loss by drastically decreasing the size of ones stomach and shortening the length of the intestine.

“A gastric bypass patient has a small pouch [for a stomach] so alcohol goes straight into the intestine and is absorbed rapidly,” Dr Roslin told the Daily Mail. “When it is absorbed rapidly, there is a high peak and rapid fall, and the higher absorption rate makes alcohol more addictive.”

In a study of 2000 gastric bypass patients, 7-percent of patients reported symptoms of alcohol misuse prior to surgery. That number had gone up to 10.7-percent—a not insignificant increase—when the same patients completed the same survey 2 years later.

Both obesity and alcoholism are hazards to ones health. And a family history of alcoholism surely only increases the risk of developing a post-surgery addiction—not to mention the pre-existing mental health conditions, lifestyle triggers, and other various risk factors for addiction.

Is a trimmer figure worth the risk of alcoholism? Is the pain and disruption of alcoholism a cost worth paying for a better body? Avoiding both seems the obvious, better choice. [DailyMail –Image via thaumatrope/Shutterstock]

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